Mokopane community marches to denounce xenophobic attacks

MOKOPANE – MORE than 10 civil society organisations marched to the Mokopane magistrate’s court, Mokopane home affairs offices and the Mogalakwena Municipality last Friday to denounce the xenophobic attacks that recently erupted in some parts of the country.

These organisations, including the Mogalakwena mayor, Tlhalefi Mashamaite, handed over a memorandum calling on the Mokopane magistrate’s court’s chief magistrate and the home affairs senior manager to sign an anti-xenophobia pledge to work tirelessly to ensure the protection of African immigrants and other foreigners.

Organisations that participated in the march includes the Congress of South African Students, Young Communist League, African National Congress Youth League, South African Students’ Congress, South African National Civic Organisation and the Nigerian and Somalian communities.

Mashamaite said: “the attacks against African immigrants started in the township of Isipingo at the end of March before spreading to other areas in and around Durban. The attacks also occurred in some parts of Johannesburg. As a result, a number of people have been killed, while thousands of African immigrants have been displaced.

“Many of the affected immigrants have since been voluntarily repatriated back to their home countries.

“We thank the people of Mogalakwena Municipality and Limpopo for being exemplary, as we did not experience any xenophobic attacks in the province.”

Mashamaite said these xenophobic attacks brought shame and embarrassment to South Africa, compelling them as government and ordinary citizens to denounce them.

“We are reminding our people that when it was tough, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela and many others got their military training in Africa for the sole purpose of liberating this country. We must remind our people of the suffering of our African brothers in their countries because they provided us with shelter in our time of need,” he said.

“We urge you to love, work with foreign nationals and also protect them at all times from those committing acts of violence against them. The attacks violate all the values that South Africa embodies, especially the respect for human life, human rights, human dignity and Ubuntu.

“The ANC urges everybody to show the world and the rest of Africa that these violent attacks are not who we are. We are all born on the same continent and we all belong to the same continent.”

Mashamaite added: “the shutdown of Mokopane by the so-called Mogalakwena Residents Association (MRA) is totally unacceptable. Our parents, sisters and brothers must be allowed to go to work because if they don’t do so, they will lose their jobs. Our children must be allowed to go to school because if they don’t, their future is doomed.

“We call on everyone; businesses, schools and government institutions that from today and in the future to ignore any letter of any form of communication from MRA. We call on to parents, learners, teachers and the community to refrain from such activities. Shutting down our town scares away investors and more people will lose their jobs.”

He urged the community from occupying land illegally as there was a court order restraining everyone from occupying, building or erecting any structures for residential or any other purpose and to authorise the applicant through the sheriff to remove and demolish any structures or certain portions of the land described above.

Mashamaite further condemned last week’s incidents in Mzombane village, where the community set alight an Eskom vehicle and barricaded the road in protest of a lack of service delivery.

“The municipality is willing to service the community of Mzombane, but the issue of land lies with the court and chief Kekana. There are proper channels which can be followed to resolve the issues in the area and the community should exercise some patience or engage with relevant people to resolve the problems in the area unlike burning schools, people’s property.

“From today let us do what we did in the past to end slavery, Apartheid, colonial rule, discriminatory laws and practices and various unjust wars: form a united front comprising all nations, ethnic and religious groups, genders and classes to end racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and let us do it now in the spirit of mutual respect and tolerance, and by so doing demonstrate our commitment to the foundational principle of the inherent dignity of the human person,” Mashamaite concluded.